The Silent Confession

Chapter Twelve

Frank and Joe exited the meeting room, their workshop ending later than expected.

"What a snoozer," Joe said.

"How can you say that?" Frank replied. "They even went over fingerprinting, and that's, like, your specialty."

"Okay, yeah, that part was pretty cool."

The boys headed to the dining room for an early lunch, finding Nancy and Kelsey sitting together at a table with an additional guest.

"Mind if we join you?" Joe asked.

Kelsey laughed. "Of course!"

The two didn't recognize the girl that sat beside Kelsey, with brown, long curls that framed her dark skin and chocolate eyes. "This is my friend, Rosa," Kelsey explained. "She's a part-time investigator. After I attended the convention for the first time last year, I just knew I had to get her on the invite-list."

Rosa smiled at them. "It's nice to meet you all."

"I hope you don't mind," Kelsey said, with a cautious smile. "But, I told Rosa about the box. I figured any help to open it would be appreciated, and she was my original partner before we sort of all teamed up."

"Any friend of Kelsey's is a friend of our's," Joe said. "Welcome to the team. We should give ourselves a name, like the Sleuthing Squad."

"Or the Clue Crew!" Kelsey suggested.

"I like that one," Nancy agreed. "Do you have any idea how to open the box?" She asked Rosa.

Rosa shrugged. "I'm sorry, I don't. When Kelsey first showed it to me, we tried spelling out the names of the elements water and Earth, but neither worked."

"We'll figure it out eventually," Joe said, shrugging.

The five friends ate and chatted, excited about their upcoming trip to see The Phantom of the Opera that afternoon. The bus would be leaving after lunch.

Worried, Frank asked Nancy what had come of her confrontation with Rita. Nancy briefly explained the situation.

Kelsey almost choked on her water. "You're telling me that grumpy old woman dated Dave Radley?"

As the table filled with laughter, Frank couldn't help but sneak glances at Nancy as they ate. He was still hurting from her rejection, but knew that it didn't matter. She had made her choice and he would have to move on. At least they were still friends.

When it was time to leave, they gathered in the lobby with Fenton and the rest of the detectives before boarding the bus. Joe sat with Kelsey, and Nancy sat with Rosa, leaving Frank to join his father.

"Don't give me that look, Dad," Frank said as Fenton gave a look that asked, "What's wrong?"

"Is it wrong of me to be concerned about my son?"

Frank grew empathetic, giving his father a small smile. "No, but don't worry about it. I'm fine."

As the bus made its way to the city, Frank watched the scenery go past, its grace and beauty lulling him to forget any of his troubles.

At some point, his phone buzzed in his pocket, bringing him back to reality. Maybe not one he dreamed about, but one that he would accept.

It was a text from Nancy. He snuck a glance over the seats to find her eyes meeting his from about two rows ahead. She held up her phone with a small smile, signaling for him to check the message.

He smiled back before turning to his phone.

N: I wanted to tell you, I think Mr. Brown might be up to something.